Red Studios Hollywood, formerly Desilu Cahuenga Studio and Ren-Mar Studios, is a rental studio located at 846 N. Cahuenga Blvd. in
Hollywood,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, on premises that were formerly the home of
Desilu Productions
Desilu Productions () was an American television production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The company is best known for shows such as ''I Love Lucy'', ''The Lucy Show'', ''Mannix'', ''The Untouchabl ...
. Originally it was the site of
Metro Pictures
Metro Pictures Corporation was a motion picture production company founded in early 1915 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company produced its films in New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes at leased f ...
Back Lot #3 in 1920. In 1947 it was rebuilt as a 9-stage studio called Equity Pictures and became Motion Picture Center Studios a year later. It has been used for a wide variety of film and television production, and the studio has been known by many different names.
In 1953, after filming the first two seasons of the ''
I Love Lucy
''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along wit ...
'' TV series at
General Service Studios
Sunset Las Palmas Studios, formerly General Service Studios and Hollywood Center Studios, is an American independent entertainment production lot located at 1040 North Las Palmas Avenue in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, providing stage facil ...
,
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golde ...
and
Desi Arnaz
Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was a Cuban-born American actor, bandleader, and film and television producer. He played Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom '' I Love Lucy'', in which he c ...
were looking for a larger studio. They looked at the lot (known at the time as Motion Picture Center) and signed a ten-year lease on the property.
In 1955 Desilu bought the studio, and in 1959, after Desilu bought other studios in Hollywood and
Culver City, the name was changed to Desilu-Cahuenga Studios to avoid confusion with the other Desilu Studios. Beginning in 1974, the studio had been independently owned and operated for use by producers, taking the Ren-Mar name in 1984.
''
The Abbott and Costello Show
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' (season 2, 1953-54), ''
I Love Lucy
''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along wit ...
'' (seasons 3–6, 1953–1957), ''
The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' (1957–1960), ''
The Lucy Show
''The Lucy Show'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962 to 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to '' I Love Lucy''. A significant change in cast and premise for the fourth season (1965–1966) divides the program into two distin ...
'' (1962-1968), ''
The Dick Van Dyke Show
''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Product ...
'' (1961–1966), ''
My World and Welcome to It
''My World ... and Welcome to It'' is an American half-hour television sitcom based on the humor and cartoons of James Thurber.Tim Brooks & Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946 - Present'', pages 430-431, Bal ...
'', ''
Make Room for Daddy
''The Danny Thomas Show'' (titled ''Make Room for Daddy'' for its first three seasons) is an American sitcom that ran from 1953 to 1957 on ABC and from 1957 to 1964 on CBS. Starring Danny Thomas as a successful night club entertainer, the show ...
'', ''
Hogan's Heroes'', ''
The Andy Griffith Show
''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color.
The ...
'', ''
The Jack Benny Program
''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and televis ...
'', ''
That Girl
''That Girl'' is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from September 8, 1966 to March 19, 1971. It starred Marlo Thomas as the title character Ann Marie, an aspiring (but only sporadically employed) actress, who moves from her hometown of Brewste ...
'', ''
Seinfeld'', ''
The Golden Girls'', ''
The Golden Palace
''The Golden Palace'' is an American sitcom television series produced as a sequel to ''The Golden Girls,'' a continuation without Bea Arthur (though she did guest star in a double episode) that originally aired on CBS from September 1992 to M ...
'', ''
Empty Nest
''Empty Nest'' is an American television sitcom that aired for seven seasons on NBC from October 8, 1988, to April 29, 1995. The series, which was created as a spin-off of ''The Golden Girls'' by creator and producer Susan Harris, starred Ri ...
'', ''
NewsRadio
''NewsRadio'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from March 21, 1995 to May 4, 1999, focusing on the work lives of the staff of a New York City AM news radio station. It had an ensemble cast featuring Dave Foley, Steph ...
'', ''
Ally McBeal'', ''
Beauty and the Beast
''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...
'', ''
It’s a Living'', ''
MADtv
''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series originally inspired by ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' magazine. In its initial run, it aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from 1995 to 2009. After a one-off reuni ...
'', and ''
Lizzie McGuire
''Lizzie McGuire'' is an American comedy television series created by Terri Minsky that premiered on Disney Channel on January 12, 2001. The series stars Hilary Duff as the titular character, who navigates the personal and social issues of her t ...
'' are among the television series that have been filmed entirely or partially at Ren-Mar. In addition, music videos are often filmed at the studio, including those of
Madonna,
INXS,
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
,
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...
,
Hilary Duff
Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including seven Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, four Teen Choice Awards and two Young Artist Awards. She began her acti ...
and
Britney Spears. The front (Cahuenga Boulevard) gate of Ren-Mar was used to represent the "Maroon Cartoon Studio" for the film ''
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 19 ...
'' (1988). In 1991, the Richard Simmons exercise tape, "Sweatin' to the Oldies 3" was taped at Ren-Mar.
The latest shows produced at Ren-Mar were ''
FNMTV
''FNMTV'' (officially ''Feedback New MTV''; informally ''Friday Night MTV'') is a music video program on MTV focused on premiering new music videos and airing viewers' instantaneous feedback from its website."" F N was branded to stand for "Frida ...
'', ''
Monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
'', and ''
Weeds''.
In January 2010, Ren-Mar Studios was bought by
Red Digital Cinema Camera Company. The complex was renamed "Red Studios Hollywood".
References
External links
Official site
Television studios in the United States
American film studios
Cinema of Southern California
Buildings and structures in Hollywood, Los Angeles
Desilu Productions
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